Running a Manual Backup with the HFS Backup Client for Windows

With effect from version 8.1 onwards, the IBM TSM (Tivoli Storage Manager) backup / archive product has been rebranded as IBM Spectrum Protect. This is a rebranding exercise by IBM and, unless indicated specifically, there is no difference in the operation of the two brands. Versions 6 and 7 of the (old) TSM client are still available for installation on older operating systems and you will see references to both IBM Spectrum Protect and TSM throughout these pages.

1. What is a manual backup?

A manual backup is a forced backup of your local system outside of the scheduled backup window. We ask all users to complete a manual backup prior to their first scheduled backup so that we can ensure that both the client-server communication is in place and also that the majority of your data is captured at the first pass. Please note that if you have a large amount of data (over 100GB) then it may take several manual backups to complete this process.

When would you need to do a manual backup?

First-time backup

After missing one or more scheduled backups

After experiencing one or more failed backups

You have a substantial amount of new data that you wish to back up before the next scheduled backup

You have changed a substantial amount of data and you want to make sure that the backed-up copy is up-to-date.

2. Running a manual backup

Below are instructions for completing a manual backup using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) in Windows. For how to use the command line interface to run a backup, please see our page on the using the client command line interface.

Close any programs that you are running, where possible. We recommend this because TSM will not be able to back up files that are in use, such as open Word files.

In Windows 7, run the TSM backup client by clicking on the Windows logo in the lower-left corner of the screen and then select [All Programs] > [Tivoli Storage Manager] > [Backup-Archive GUI].

In Windows 8 or 10, go to the Start screen by clicking on the Windows logo in the lower-left corner of the screen; then type in "backup", and from the search results select [Backup-Archive GUI] to run the backup client software; either TSM or IBM Spectrum Protect, depending on the version of software you have installed.

A window similar to the following will appear. Click on the blue Backup link:

A backup window will appear, giving you a choice of areas to back up and listing your backup type as [Incremental (complete)] (which should not be changed):

Please do NOT select the tick box marked 'Nodes' nor the tick box next to your nodename. Selecting either of these would cause TSM to try to back up all your drives, including: any CD/DVD that you may have left inserted; drives mapped/shared from other machines, if you have any; and, most notably, system data called System Object/System State that on its own can take an hour to be backed up.

Expand the section under Local:

You will see tick boxes next to all the local drives attached to your machine. Folders are displayed in the left-hand window, and files on the right. Note that some folders and files are marked with a barred red circle - these are files and folders excluded from backup by default.

Now you can select what you want to back up:

If you wish to back up whole drives, select the tick box beside Local to back up all drives (including external ones) or select each drive individually.

Alternatively, you can make a smaller selection of particular files and/or folders for backup, which is recommended if you have a slow internet connection (e.g. if you are backing up from outside the university network). For example, if you wish to select your 'My Documents' folder, then you will find this under your username in C:\Documents and Settings if you are using Windows XP/2003, or in C:\Users if you have Windows Vista/2008/7. The example below shows the Documents folder for user Jason about to be backed up in Windows 7.

When you are happy with your selection for this backup session, click on the Backup button and the backup will commence:

During the backup a Task List window will display the backup process:

When the backup has completed you will see a Backup completed pop-up appear; click OK.

A Backup Report will now be displayed:

This report contains useful information such as:

Elapsed time - The time it took for the backup to complete

Bytes transferred - The amount of data that has been backed up in total

Backed up - The total number of files that have been backed up in total.

You may wish to click on View to see what files, if any, failed - these were probably open or in use during the backup.

Click on the cross to close down the report.

You should now have completed a successful backup of your local system! If this was your first backup and you want to run automatic scheduled backups, then please now see our page on preparing for scheduled backups. Please note that your selection of drives and/or folders in this session will not be saved by Spectrum Protect / TSM - if you wish for certain items not to be included in your scheduled backups, please see our section on how to exclude files and folders from backup.